Sometimes Change is Good
by 12 Withering Roses
Summary: A simple summer day at a Seattle amusement park turns out to be extremely amusing for Sam after she starts a game of 'Truth or Dare' with Freddie and Carly, who, after taking on Sam's crazy dares realize that, sometimes, change can be good. Creddie.
1. Sam Has a Pukefest And Carly's Invited

Disclaimer: Honestly, if I owned ANYTHING, do you think I'd be writing fanfiction right now?

The lazy days of summer were drawing slowly but surely to a close, and Sam, Freddie, and Carly were spending one of the last remaining Thursday afternoons of summer out on the town. The sun shone brightly, beating down relentlessly; the air was thick with humidity, and the heat in the air was almost visible, wafting up from the scorching concrete sidewalk in waves that made the air appear hazy. Normally, Carly, Freddie, and Sam would be holed up in the iCarly studio on a day like this, the air conditioner running full-blast to combat the stifling heat, playing Guitar Hero or some other mindless game to pass the day. Today, however, they had opted instead to spend their time outdoors, making the most of what little remained of Summer Holidays.

"It's kind of strange, isn't it?" Carly mused aloud to her two best friends, breaking the previous silent spell, as they all lay on their backs atop towels on the concrete nearby the Wave Pool of the amusement park, allowing the sun to dry their bodies. Sam lay to her left and Freddie to her right. Sam was wearing a green and white polka-dot bikini, while Carly was wearing a solid red one. Freddie was shirtless and wore a pair of black swimming trunks with white trim; all three wore large, dark sunglasses to shade their eyes from the onslaught of the afternoon sun.

"Yeah, I know. The fact that Sir Nubsalot here didn't wear cloud block today totally weirded me out too!" Sam responded without missing a beat, smiling a devilish grin to herself as she lay on her back with her hands behind her head, her eyes closed beneath her sunglasses. She never missed an opportunity to torment Freddie; in fact, it was her favourite pastime. She relished the fact that she could elicit such a strong emotional response from cool-headed, rational Freddie Benson. "I would have thought he'd be afraid of getting a cloud burn."

"Sam-" Carly started wearily.

"Hey!" Freddie responded angrily, sitting up violently in his irritation. Carly sighed loudly. She should have known that the peaceful atmosphere was too good to last.

"That was only one time," he continued furiously, "and I ONLY said that to keep my mother from seeing the tattoo that YOU made me get, which, I'll remind you, the doctor discovered was fake _only after_ causing me extreme pain in an attempt to remove it!"

As the words left his lips, both Sam and Carly began laughing uproariously at the memory. Freddie's face turned a deep shade of red.

"Whatevs, Fredwad." Sam said finally, wiping here eyes as her peals of laughter faded into chuckles.

"Nyeh!" Freddie exclaimed angrily, flopping back down forcefully onto his towel. Carly continued chuckling for a few moments before she spoke again.

"In all seriousness, though, I just can't help but feel weird right now. It's so hard to believe that we're already going into our last year of high school. Doesn't that freak you guys out? Knowing that soon everything's gonna change?"

Carly's question hung heavily in the air for several long, silent moments. Senior year. It was something they'd all been thinking a lot about lately, even if they hadn't spoken of it much. Change was something they all feared; even the fearless Samantha Puckett. They feared the inevitable uprooting of the safe, certain life in which they had all become so comfortable.

Finally, when she could stand the silence no more, Sam piped up. The inevitability of the end of high school and, essentially, life as she knew it, was something she didn't like to talk about, much less think about. She wanted more than anything to pretend that it wasn't going to happen. So, she decided to change the subject.

"Come on. Let's go to the food court and get some lunch. Momma's starved." She said, jumping to her feet and collecting her towel and backpack.

"Uh...aren't you going to go change first?" Freddie asked, eying her bikini skeptically. Sam rolled her eyes, rummaged through her knapsack for the dry denim shorts she'd stashed there, and pulled them over her bikini bottoms.

"Alright, I'm ready. Can we go now?"

Freddie and Carly just shook their heads, laughing. Following Sam's lead, Carly pulled on her khaki shorts and white tank top over her swimsuit, while Freddie pulled his navy blue Cuttlefish shirt over his head. Then they all grabbed their belongings and headed in the direction of the food court.

As soon as they reached the food court, Sam, Freddie, and Carly went off in opposite directions to different food places, agreeing to meet at a shady table on the edge of the food court. After about fifteen minutes of waiting in endless lines, the three finally converged back at their chosen spot.

Freddie and Carly had both bought light, sensible lunches; Carly had bought a chicken ceasar wrap and ice tea with a small side salad, while Freddie had opted for a cold-cut assorted sub loaded with veggies and a lemonade. Sam, on the other hand, had gone all-out; her huge plate was piled with French fries smothered in gravy, a huge bacon double cheeseburger with extra bacon, a one-litre bottle of Dr. Pepper, and two packs of fatcakes.

"What?" Sam asked defensively, realizing that Carly and Freddie were staring at her food. "I'm hungry, okay?"

"I hate to be the Voice of Reason here, Sam-"

"Then don't. Freddork!" Sam growled back.

"-But are you sure it's a good idea eating all that greasy, heavy food before we go on the coasters?"

"Don't worry 'bout momma, Freddikins; my stomach can hold it's own. No ride on this planet can make me puke."

Sam grinned at Freddie as she sank her teeth ravenously into her bacon double cheeseburger.

* * *

"SAM!" Carly exclaimed as she, Freddie, and Sam stepped off the Polar Express. Carly was holding her hands up in the air in disgust, afraid to touch her shirt, while Freddie was holding up a very green looking Sam.

"What?" Sam asked weakly, the nausea she was currently feeling written all over her face, "It's not my fault Freddork was right about eating greasy foods before going on rides!"

"Well it IS your fault that you puked all over me!" Carly stated, annoyed.

"Speaking of puking-" Sam, hit with yet another wave of nausea, stumbled over to the nearest garbage can and began violently throwing up what was left of her stomach contents. Freddie and Carly were left alone.

"Ugh, what am I supposed to do now," Carly groaned, gesturing toward the vomit covering her shirt, "Walk around all day smelling like half-digested cheeseburger?"

Freddie smiled slightly, even as he wrinkled his nose at the foul stench of Sam's vomit.

"You know, it might help us to get to the front of all the lines."

Carly tried to look outraged, but was unsuccessful in her attempts to hold in her peals of laughter. If it had been anyone else saying that, Carly would surely have been appalled. But it wasn't anyone else. It was Freddie. She always seemed to hold him to a different standard than other people.

"Be that as it may," She said, a small smile gracing her soft features, "I don't know if I could handle the stench all day."

"Why don't you just walk around in your bikini top?" Freddie suggested, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"You'd just LOVE that, wouldn't you?" Carly asked him, rolling her eyes. Freddie responded with a wink. Carly responded by smacking him lightly on the arm.

"What can I say? I'm a guy. I'm entitled to be a little pervy once in a while."

He and Carly shared a moment of quiet laughter, followed by a long moment of silence, broken only by Sam heaving into the garbage can.

Then, without warning, Freddie began to pull off his shirt. Carly watched in astonishment, confused.

"What are you doing, Freddie?" She asked absently, mesmerized as the blue cotton of the shirt was peeled away to show his tanned, toned stomach muscles. Her eyes followed the flow of the fabric as it softly caressed his chest, then disappeared altogether as it was pulled up and over his head.

"Here," He said, holding out the balled-up shirt to her, "Take my shirt."

"Freddie, a-are you sure?" She asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, it's fine; I've got plenty of sunblock. Go ahead, take it."

Carly took the shirt hesitantly. She stood and stared for a long, silent moment at Freddie in all his shirtless glory; at his newly toned physique, helped along by puberty and a recent discovery of sports. It had taken all of her strength not to start drooling earlier as they had frolicked about in the wave pool.

But now...now she just couldn't help staring. Maybe it was the way the late afternoon sun caught his body, or maybe it was the fact that she found his sense of chivalry kind of sexy. Whatever it was, though, she couldn't deny the prickly feeling that was present in the pit of her stomach at that moment. The same one she'd felt the whole brief time they'd 'dated' after he'd saved her from that taco truck. The one she could, now that she thought on it, remember feeling a few times in his presence even before the taco truck incident; like when he'd pinned her to the floor the day she'd found out about his kiss with Sam. The one she now felt every time she was in his presence.

It had taken her a while to figure out what it was, but finally, she'd clued in. She'd been astonished to discover, after much soul-searching, that she did, in fact, like Freddie. As in, _like_, liked Freddie. Maybe even loved him. And it wasn't just his heroism, either; of that, she was now sure. She'd waited for almost two years now for the feeling to subside; it hadn't. If anything, it had only become stronger. And now, looking back on when she'd first met Freddie, she was acutely aware that the feeling had been there for quite a long time now. The taco truck incident had merely opened her eyes to what had already existed. She wasn't sure when exactly it had developed, or how, even, but she was aware that it wasn't going away anytime soon.

She'd just refused to acknowledge it up until now.

She'd thought of telling him how she felt for a long time now. The only reason she hadn't already was because she feared things changing between them. She was afraid that if she'd dated him, then realized that, for whatever reason, what she felt wasn't real, and then things went bad in the end, she'd lose him forever. She wasn't sure she could ever forgive herself if that happened. She needed Freddie in her life, whether it was just as a friend or as something more. But now, 'just friends' didn't seem good enough for her anymore; it was becoming almost physically painful just being around him, knowing that he wasn't hers.

That was how she knew it was real. She was ready, now, to take a chance, to risk it all for Freddie. _Her_ Freddie.

There was just one problem; he had a girlfriend. Jessica. And she was totally, completely, undeniably perfect. She was so perfect that Carly, in all her jealousy, couldn't even bring herself to hate the newcomer that had stolen _her_ Freddie.

"...CARLS!" Freddie all but shouted. Carly snapped back to herself, blushing furiously as she realized that Freddie had been trying to get her attention. He regarded her strangely.

"Oh, uh, sorry, Freddie." Carly stammered, "I, uh, kinda went all space-cadet for a minute there."

"Yeah, I saw..." Freddie responded, his strange look replaced with one of concern, "You okay, Carls? Something on your mind that you maybe wanna talk about?"

"Nah, it's nothing." Carly said, plastering a smile on her face. "I'm just...I'm gonna go get changed now."

"Alright," Freddie responded, not exactly convinced that she was okay, but deciding that it was better not to pursue it at the moment. "We'll be waiting here for you when you get back." He paused, shooting a look over at Sam, who was still bent over the garbage can, and smiled to himself; "Doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon."

AN: Well, this was originally intended to be a oneshot, but seeing as my 'oneshot' turned out to be, like, ten pages and it's only half done, I figured I should probably split it up into multiple chapters. Anywho, so yeah, I will hopefully be updating very soon, although life's pretty busy these days, what with school and exam prep and stuffs. So I hope you'll be willing to meet me halfway and forgive me for taking so long in updating. And I, in return, will (hopefully) give you and in-Creddie-ble story (yeah, sorry, that was pretty lame. I get it from my dad.) So, enjoy my first offering of this story to you avid Creddie-ers out there. I'm hoping I did well, but I'm always overly critical of my own stuffs. Please send reviews; they sustain me!

Cat.


	2. Pukefest Two Starring Freddie Benson

Disclaimer: Nada. Niente. Sans. Zip. Zilch. No matter how you say it, it still means none. As in, my rights to iCarly? None. Enjoy. And, preferably, don't sue.

* * *

Half an hour later found the three of them back in the food court area, having decided, after Sam's pukefest, to give the rides a rest for a while. They'd all agreed, though, to hit some more wild rides later on, before they left for the day. After all, it was probably the last chance they'd get to the amusement park before school started again.

Sam, who clearly hadn't learned the whole, 'food+rides=vomit' lesson, was happily munching away on a funnel cake, having thoroughly rinsed her mouth out with copious amounts of water. Carly and Freddie both sat across from her at the picnic table, shaking their heads. Carly tried hard to ignore the pounding of her heart against her ribcage as she sat next to him; it was something she'd come to associate with being close to Freddie. She had to keep forcefully reminding herself that Freddie was no longer the boy-across-the-hall with the puppydog crush on her. As painful as it was to admit to herself, she couldn't deny it. He'd moved on. He was happy, now, and in a good relationship. If only she hadn't been so grade-A stupid. If only she'd clued in sooner to the desires her subconscious had been trying for years to alert her to. She'd missed her window of opportunity.

Freddie was the first to speak, rousing Carly from her conflicted reflections.

"You know, Sam, I would have thought you'd learned your lesson about junk food and roller coasters. I mean, considering you just spent, like, 15 minutes hurling your lunch into a garbage can."

"Did I ask for 'Fredlumps' life lesson of the day?'" Sam retorted, before shoving a particularly large piece of funnel cake into her mouth.

"You know, I think I'm definitely gonna have to go with Freddie on this one." Carly said. She smiled as she saw the pleased smirk creep across Freddie's features. He was always so adorable when he had a smirk on his face.

"You would." Sam muttered under her breath, her mouth full of funnel cake, barely audible. After all, she wasn't _completely_ clueless regarding Carly's little geek crush. Considering Carly was about as subtle as a foghorn about it.

"What was that?"

Sam swallowed her mouthful of funnel cake. "What? I didn't say anything."

Carly shook her head and continued, trying not to laugh at the irony of the sweetly 'innocent' smile plastered to Sam's face.

"Since you seem so determined to ignore common sense," Carly continued, "There's no way in hell I'm sitting next you you on another roller coaster ride. I suppose I'll just have to sit next to Freddie."

Freddie looked over at her, clearly shocked.

"Uh, Carls, you sure that wouldn't make you uncomfortable or anything?" Freddie asked, thinking of how small coaster cars tended to be. Even sitting side-by-side on the bench, he maintained what he thought was an 'appropriate' distance from Carly, as she'd insisted he do so many times before, so as not to make her feel like he was invading her personal space bubble.

Carly's eyes widened. She hadn't even considered that. It was tough, keeping up appearances of normalcy. But she couldn't, in all good conscience, let him figure out that her feelings for him had changed. Or, rather, finally been realized. Not now that he was so happy dating Jessica. And he deserved to be happy, after all the years she'd spent unintentionally jerking him around. Happiness was all she could ever wish for Freddie...even if it wasn't with her. Why confuse him by throwing herself at him? That is, if he even had any feelings for her anymore. Besides, perhaps they really _were _better off being 'just friends'...it seemed as if that was what fate demanded of them, anyway...

"Well, it would be less uncomfortable than being puked on again by Sam." She stated, giving her best fake laugh. _Nice save, Carly_, she thought to herself.

Freddie laughed too, although he seemed to look a little deflated to the casual observer. Sam just rolled her eyes and continued eating her funnel cake.

She was happy and all that the Nub had moved on and finally stopped holding out for Carly like some sort of masochistic puppy (cause let's face it, it was pretty pathetic that he'd spent years pining after her relentlessly despite her continuously shooting him down), but the moron had totally chosen the wrong time to do it. Because, clearly, the Queen of Indecisiveness had finally decided she liked him. Not to mention, he _clearly_ wasn't as over Carly as he liked to pretend.

They way they kept dancing around the obvious annoyed the fuck out of Sam. It made her want to beat on some geeks. Or maybe just smack Carly and Freddie and yell at them to get their heads screwed on straight. Or both. That was definitely a viable option.

"So." She started, irritated by their third-grade schoolyard behaviour; it was ruining her perfect summer Thursday. She was determined to get them to cut it out. How? By playing a third-grade schoolyard game, of course. "Who's up for truth or dare?"

Carly and Freddie just stared at her for a long minute.

"Are you kidding, Sam? You do realize we're almost in the twelfth grade, right?" Carly finally piped up, shaking her head.

"I agree with Carly, that's totally juvenile, Sam."

_So's your behaviour_. Sam thought, saying instead, "Aw, come on, guys, it'll be fun. And besides, look where we are! An amusement park offers so many unique and truly terrifying 'dare' opportunities!"

Carly looked at Sam thoughtfully for a moment. Freddie looked at Sam skeptically. Sam stuck out her bottom lip and pouted, knowing that there was no way her best friend could resist. Sure enough, Carly cracked instantly.

"Oh, alright, fine." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Nuh-uh. Not me. I'm too old for this game." Freddie stated, crossing his tanned, muscular arms across his bare, perfectly toned chest.

"More like you're too chicken-shit to play." Sam antagonized.

"I am NOT chicken-shit!" Freddie raged, leaning across the table toward Sam, who mirrored his action. Carly groaned, foreseeing another argument.

"Are so." Sam stated, leaning back in her seat.

"Am not!" Freddie said again, clearly becoming heated. Sam grinned deviously and began counting down in her head. _In 5...4...3...2..._ "In fact, I'll prove it to you. I'll play your stupid game, Puckett!"

"Good." Sam stated triumphantly, smiling widely.

"Awwww!" Freddie raged, realizing that he'd just played right into Sam's hands. He had to admit, she really knew how to push his buttons. Like Carly, she could, in her own way, manipulate him into doing anything she wanted. Like it or not, she was one of the most prominent girls in his life. Or, women, rather. It was scary how fast they'd all seemed to grow up. Well, physically, anyway. Sam was still just as immature as she had been in the eighth grade. In any case, in Freddie's eyes, she was the demonic sister he (thankfully) never had.

"Alright, so, since it was my idea to play, I'll ask first." She paused for effect, looking between her two friends, smiling deviously. "So, Freddie; truth or dare?"

Freddie groaned and rolled his eyes before muttering, "Truth."

Sam grinned a grin that made Freddie immediately regret his answer. He could tell that she had a question prepared already.

"So, having kissed both Carly and Jessica, who's the better kisser?"

What? Nobody said she couldn't help her best friend out a little while simultaneously tormenting Freddie.

Carly looked at Freddie expectantly. So did Sam. He knew that this was one of those 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' situations.

On the one hand, he could be truthful, and admit that Carly was, in fact, the better of the two. In his mind, she'd always be number one. But that would risk making Carly uncomfortable, creating an awkward situation that could, potentially, ruin the rest of their day. Plus, it would reveal that he still had feelings for her, which would only create more tension. Things had been tense enough between Carly and Freddie since their brief 'thing'. For a long while afterward, their relationship had hung in the 'limbo' that lay between 'just friends' and 'something more'.

On the other hand, he could lie and give the response any dutiful boyfriend was supposed to give: the response Carly and Sam both expected of him. But that would risk insulting Carly and making her mad at him, thus, potentially, ruining the rest of their day. Not to mention, he wasn't actually _dating_ Jessica anymore; they'd shared an amicable breakup several days previously, agreeing that things just weren't right between them. So, the 'dutiful boyfriend' answer could get him into even _more_ trouble with Carly and Sam because he'd lied to them.

He wasn't even sure _why_ he hadn't told Sam and Carly yet; he just...didn't really want them to know. Maybe it was because, after the uncertainty of what was between he and Carly, his dating Jessica had moved them back into the 'just friends' category, restoring some sense of normalcy to their relationship. Not telling them was one thing. It would be another thing altogether to outright _lie_ to them.

"Pass." He finally said, after a long pause.

"Pass? You can't 'pass' in truth or dare, Dorkwad." Sam said, her face scrunched up.

"Look, Sam, I said pass, alright?" Freddie repeated venomously. Sam opened her mouth to argue.

"Sam, just let it go, alright?" Carly interjected. She didn't want Sam and Freddie to have an actual fight, which was where she could see this heading. Both, she'd come to know, could be stubborn and pig-headed when it came to certain situations, and she knew that neither one of them would back down. As much as she loved Sam, Carly had to admit that Sam never knew when it was best to have a little tact and just shut up. Clearly, the question made Freddie uncomfortable. And as much as she desperately wanted to know the answer, she also didn't want a miserable Freddie for the rest of the day. Or, worse, to be forced to have to choose sides in their argument.

"Alright, fine. But only because _you_ asked, Carls." Sam gave a defeated sigh and turned back to Freddie. "Alright, Fredwierd, let's start over. Truth or dare?"

"Dare." Freddie said instantly, knowing that Sam would find some other equally uncomfortable question to ask if he went with truth.

"Alright," Sam said, that familiar demonic gleam in her eyes. Freddie mentally berated himself for ever agreeing to play this stupid game. "I dare you to eat five packets of food court mustard."

Freddie's face immediately took on an expression of horror. Sam and Carly both giggled; Sam knew full well that Freddie _hated_ mustard. She was just doing this to torment him.

"Pass!" He said.

"Oh, no, Benson. Not this time. This time, you have to stick to it."

Freddie looked at Carly for support, but she just shook her head at him.

"Sorry, Freddie, I agree with Sam. You passed on the last one. Now you _have_ to do this."

"Aw, come on, Carly! You know I don't like mustard!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Oh, fine!" Freddie exclaimed, grabbing five of the individual packets Sam had swiped from the burger place earlier. He tore the tops off of them and prepared to squeeze them all into his mouth at once, when Sam stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"One at a time." She smirked.

"No way!" Freddie protested. "You never stipulated when you made the dare that it had to be one at a time!"

"Well I'm stipulating it now. So get squeezin', Benson."

"Nuh-uh. It's all at once or I don't do it."

"Oh, come on, chicken shit. It's just mustard. Be a man, Fredwina!"

That was just going a step too far. Freddie could deal with just about anything that came out of Sam's mouth, but challenging his masculinity, especially in Carly's presence, was WAY not cool.

"Sam!" Carly scolded.

"Fine, you wanna see a man, Puckett! I'll show you I'm a man!"

He squeezed the first packet of mustard in his mouth and swallowed hard, fighting back the bile that rose up in his throat at the taste and texture of it on his tongue. He did the same with the second, third, fourth, and fifth; it was harder and harder for him to swallow each packet. Finally, when he'd forced down the final packet, he smiled triumphantly at Sam and stuck his tongue out at her.

"Nyeh!" He roared triumphantly. His triumph lasted for all of about two seconds, however, before his expression changed. His hand flew to his mouth, and he all but ran, nearly tripping over the picnic table bench, to the nearest garbage can.

Freddie Benson had always been a man with a cast-iron stomach. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd vomited since he'd outgrown his baby-spitup days. Even when he'd had the flu, he'd rarely thrown up. He could hold down his lunch on the wildest of rides; even the coaster with the double loop followed by a corkscrew and a steep plunge. Unfortunately, Freddie's stomach wasn't so cast-iron when it came to mustard; Sam had damn well known that when she picked the dare. She'd seen him puke once before after eating a burger she'd slipped mustard onto while he'd been in the bathroom. At least Carly hadn't been aware that he hated mustard to the point of physical illness.

"Yeah, Fredwardo; 'cause upchucking because of a little mustard is just _so_ manly."

Freddie, in between gagging, flipped off a laughing Sam, while deriving some satisfaction from listening to Carly berating the blonde demon for being so insensitive to Freddie's violent illness. As he continued to lose his lunch, he heard Carly get up from her seat and walk over to him, then felt her small, delicate hand running soothing circles over his back. He felt instantly calmed.

Freddie stood up wearily, leaning unsteadily against the garbage can, once he'd finished throwing up. Carly walked over to him and handed him several napkins, which he accepted gratefully. He spit several times into the garbage can and used the napkins to wipe around his mouth. Then, after tossing the napkins into the trash, he went back over to the picnic table and began rummaging through his bag.

"Watcha lookin' for, Nub?" Sam asked, still smiling broadly at Freddie's discomfort despite Carly's lecture. Freddie smirked at her as he pulled out a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a mini bottle of Scope. Pouring a little water from his bottle on top of the toothpaste he'd squeezed onto the brush, Freddie began brushing his teeth happily. Sam's smile fell from her face.

"Seriously, Freddie? You carry around a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash?" Carly asked, arching an eyebrow at him and smiling playfully. She found it extremely difficult to suppress the giggle that she could feel just on the brink of escaping her.

Freddie shrugged. "My mom's afraid I'll get tooth decay if I don't brush after _every time_ I eat. Plus, as I've just demonstrated, you never know when a dental hygiene kit might come in handy."

"Touché." Carly responded, letting loose the giggle she'd held in until now.

"So, wait a minute, hold on, Fredwad." Sam interjected, an outraged look on her face, "You're telling me that, this whole time, you had a bottle of mouthwash on you, and you didn't give me any after I puked my guts out; is that it?"

Freddie shrugged again, giving Sam a devious smile.

"You never asked."

With that, he returned to brushing his teeth, chuckling to himself, as he practically felt the 'pissed off' radiating off Sam in waves.

AN: Yeah, I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this chapter. Perhaps I'll revise it in the future. Right now, though, I wanted to get this cranked out and posted before I got too busy studying for exams (only 3 weeks away! EEK!) to get any work done on it for a while. I'll do my best to keep writing whenever I have a free minute, although, in my life free minutes are few and far between. Anywho...please R and R, let me know what you think, and perhaps give suggestions on what I can do to improve it. Thanks for reading! You're all totally awesome!

Cat.


	3. Would YOU Eat a Live Rat?

Disclaimer: Nada. Niente. Sans. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Non-existant. No matter how you say it, it's still none. As in, my rights to iCarly? None. Enjoy. And, preferably, don't sue.

Once Freddie had finished brushing his teeth, he reluctantly settled back onto the bench of the picnic table beside Carly. After his own mustard-inspired pukefest, he was somewhat reluctant to continue the game, but, in spite of his better judgment, he went along with it. And, surprisingly, Sam _had_ been right about one thing. Amusement parks offered several unique dare opportunities. Many of them quite embarrassing. Such as, for example, some of the kiddie rides he'd dared Sam to go on. Sam had just scoffed at the lame-ness of his dares and carried out each one, mocking him all the while for his lack of imagination. But what Sam hadn't known was that Freddie had caught them all on film. Hello, Splashface! He thought, chuckling to himself. Sweet, sweet, vengeance!

* * *

An hour later, it was just bordering on 5:00 p.m. It was Freddie's turn to ask a question. He grinned at Sam, who knew he was going to ask her. He always did.

"Truth." She said in a bored voice, before he even got the question out, "Cause your dares are lame!"

Freddie just smiled at this. They'd only be 'lame' until he posted his videos of them. Then they'd be legend. And he'd probably be history. But it would be oh so worth it, just for one moment of pure Puckett humiliation.

"Do you or do you not have a thing for Carly's brother?" Freddie asked, choking back a snicker. He already knew the answer. So did Carly. He just enjoyed making her uncomfortable.

Clearly, he was doing a good job of it, too, because Sam's face went beet red and, within a split-second, a myriad of emotions crossed her face: Shock, embarrassment, murderous rage. Finally, she managed to force her face into a neutral expression, but the crimson of her cheeks gave her away. She fixed Freddie with a 'You-fucking-well-know-the-answer-to-that-question-you-dickwad' glare before speaking.

"No comment." Sam stated coolly, though Freddie could tell that it was taking all her might not to tear his head off and shove several thousand packets of mustard down his throat.

"What's this? Samantha Puckett, the Queen of Truth or Dare, passing on a question?" Freddie mocked. Sam just glared at him.

"Look, I said pass, okay?" Sam growled, trying to keep her voice steady. She knew she couldn't lie to them, because she knew that they already knew that she was secretly carrying a torch for Spencer. The same way she knew that Carly was carrying one for Freddie, even if the Nub was totally oblivious. Not to mention, Sam was dead serious when it came to truth or dare; it was one of the few times in life when she actually upheld the rules. Lying in truth or dare was akin to sacrelige in Sam's book. She happened to be a very complex individual, thank you very much!

"And what makes you think I'd let you take a pass?" Freddie antagonized.

"Uh, number one, because I let you take one earlier, remember? And number two, if you don't, I'll make sure you don't live long enough to lose your virginity!" Sam growled.

"Oh, that is so not cool, Puckett!!!" Freddie cried

"Freddie! Sam! Come on! Can't we have one nice day out together without arguments?" Carly interjected.

"Sorry Carls." Freddie responded dutifully.

"Fredwad started it!" Sam protested. Carly glared at her. Sam sighed audibly and apologized.

"Fine...I'm sorry I mocked your non-existent sexual prowess..." Sam sighed. Carly and Freddie both glared at her. "Alright, alright! I'm _sorry_, Nub."

Freddie shrugged but didn't reply. He knew that that was about as close as he was going to get to a genuine apology out of Sam Puckett.

"I'm still not answering the question, though." She stated vehemently after a pause.

"Aw, c'mon Sam!" Freddie baited, "Don't be a chicken shit!"

"Look, I said no, alright?" Sam all but yelled.

"Come on Freddie, just ask another question, alright?" Carly intervened. Freddie opened his mouth to protest, but the pleading look Carly gave him melted his resolution and he knew there was no way he could refuse her. Sam, watching the exchange carefully, just rolled her eyes.

"Whpsssshhhh!" She said, imitating the sound of a whip being cracked. Freddie just glared at her silently for a moment, and Carly's face went beet red.

"What would you rather do?" Freddie asked, breaking the silence but still shooting Sam a death glare, "Shave Gibby's back, or eat a live rat?"

"Live rat." Sam answered without hesitation. The three laughed uproariously, the tension between Sam and Freddie momentarily forgotten.

"I honestly wouldn't blame you, Puckett." Freddie chuckled.

The laughter died down, and there was a moment of comfortable silence between the three best friends. That is, until Sam spoke up.

"Well, I guess that means it's my turn to ask the question." She said, smiling deviously. There was an audible groan from Freddie, which Sam chose to ignore.

"Carly." Sam started, making Freddie look up at her in shock, "What?", Sam asked, "I thought it was time to change it up a little."

Freddie just shook his head and looked at Carly, who was staring intently at Sam.

"So, cupcake, truth, or dare?" Sam asked, staring back just as intently. Freddie looked between the girls, vaguely aware that they were having some kind of unspoken game of chicken.

"Dare." Carly answered, raising her eyebrows at her best friend in an 'I-bet-you-thought-that-was-the-last-thing-I'd-say' kind of triumphant gesture. Sam raised her eyebrows and nodded at her friend in a silent kudos for bravery.

"I dare you to kiss Freddifer."

There was a long silent moment where Sam stared intently at Carly, as did Freddie. Carly's eyes opened wide in horror, and her heart raced in her chest.

"No, no way, absolutely not." Carly said, shaking her head vehemently. "We're best friends. It would just be awkward. A-and besides..." Carly explained quickly, nervously tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear, "He's got a girlfriend. I'm pretty sure she'd be mad if Freddie and I kissed behind her back. Plus, that would make me a homewrecker and a total skunkbag."

Freddie felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach. He let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding.

Sam just rolled her eyes. She loved Carly with all her heart, but Carly was just _such _a goody-two-shoes. Seriously. Girl needed to go out and have some fun, get in trouble once in a while.

"Not if she didn't find out." Sam said conspiratorially, waggling her eyebrows at Carly. "Yo, Fredwad, whadda you say?"

Freddie just shrugged, looking anywhere but at Carly and Sam. "Carly's right. It would be too awkward."

Carly looked down at the table, trying not to show the pang of hurt that had assaulted her heart at Freddie's response. Why was _she_ disappointed that he'd agreed with her. _She_ was the one that had said it was a bad idea in the first place.

"God, you two are so pathetic!" Sam exclaimed. She was getting frustrated. You could cut the sexual tension in the air with a knife, and they still pretended it wasn't there! Plus, the fact that they were pining over each other puppy-dog style was ruining Sam's good fun. Jeez, how could they be _so selfish_! "Seriously, it's just one kiss. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Look, Carly said no, okay? So just respect her decision, Sam. Give her another dare."

Sam just glared at Freddie. She was becoming genuinely angry with the two of them and their stupid denial.

"Fine." Sam said calmly. Too calmly. Freddie and Carly knew her well enough to know that when she was this calm, there was definitely going to be a storm. Carly was afraid of what Sam's dare would be. Sam didn't disappoint. She pointed to a particular attraction, standing high above the rest of the rides at the amusement park.

"I dare you to go bungee jumping."

AN: Aaaannnnd....CLIFFHANGER!!! Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. I've been REALLY busy prepping for exams. Plus, some personal issues got in the way of my writing. But, as promised, here's the long-awaited update. I apologize in advance, but I won't be able to update for a few weeks...exams are going to eat up all my time. But I promise, once exams are over, you shall have your finished story! Thanks to all who read and reviewed. Reviews are my crack. Send me lots to power me through exams!

Oh, and P.S....I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY!!! YAY!!!

Cat.


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